Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner admitted that their batting once again let the team down after their 31-run loss against Punjab Kings at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Saturday. While chasing 168 runs, DC got off to a flying start, racing to 65-0 in the powerplay overs but in the end, they could only manage 136-8 in their 20 overs.
David Warner scored 54 runs off just 27 balls whereas Philip Salt scored 21 runs from 17, but DC’s middle order of Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Axar Patel, and Manish Pandey were all dismissed in single-digit scores.
In fact, DC lost six wickets for 19 runs in the run-chase as their batters crumbled like a pack of cards. Ergo, it was another disappointing batting effort from Delhi Capitals, which has been the story of this IPL 2023. With this loss, the Capitals became the first team to get eliminated from the playoff race.
On the other hand, after David Warner decided to put Punjab Kings into bat, the visitors posted a fighting score of 167-7, courtesy of a maiden IPL century from their opener Prabhsimran Singh. The right-hander scored a majestic knock of 103 runs off just 65 balls with the help of 10 fours and six sixes.
In fact, the next best score for Punjab Kings was 20 runs, which was scored by Sam Curran as Prabhsimran Singh scored the lion’s share of the runs.
David Warner said in the post-match presentation, “It was about trying to restrict them to a decent total. They got more than we would have liked. Prabhsimran batted really well, dropped chances cost us a few. At the end of the day after the powerplay when you lose 6 for 30 not going to win a lot of games.”
He added, “You got to play for pride, and play with freedom [on the remaining games]. Another disappointing effort with the bat after the good start we had. When you lose they are the things that happen in this format [on chopping and changing of their team]. We found the right combination but we keep losing 3-4 quick wickets and you can’t do that at this level.”
In fact, David Warner and Phil Salt collectively scored 75 runs from 44 balls whereas the rest of the DC batters scored 57 runs from 76 balls and it led to their downfall.
Delhi Capitals will once again take on Punjab Kings at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala on Wednesday.
